CEJA has welcomed the announcement of a new support package by European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, on Monday 18 July at the Farm Council. However, although CEJA acknowledges that the package is going in the right direction and has taken heed of demands for new funding and assistance for farmers with cash-flow difficulties, much more needs to be done. There must be more, targeted focus on assisting young farmers in particular because they are the most susceptible to the current crisis as well as the best-placed to forge a more sustainable future for the sector.

Speaking on the subject, CEJA President Alan Jagoe welcomed the package, saying: “Any additional support to farmers today is welcome and it is crucial that particular issues, such as oversupply on the markets, are attempting to be addressed.” However, the CEJA President also expressed disappointment with a lack of targeted measures for young farmers, stating that: “It is difficult enough for young people to start a farm in the EU today due to a lack of policy tools for the improvement of access to land and credit. Now the few who have succeeded in doing so are being put at risk even further, due to a lack of measures targeting their obvious disadvantages in times of crisis compared to their more securely established counterparts.”

CEJA also calls on the EU institutions to go further in terms of improving risk management tools, creating financial instruments, and improving transparency and fairness in the food supply chain. You can read CEJA’s position statement on the market crisis and how best to address it here.